Research Paper on:
Overview of America's Federal Reserve System

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
at its disposal to fulfill its goals. Bibliography lists 6 sources. PGfedrs.rtf THE FEDERAL RESERVE , December, 2001 for more information  on using this paper properly! The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. It was founded in 1913 by Congress for the purpose of providing a  safer, more stable, more flexible monetary and financial system. The duties of the Federal Reserve are to: conduct the nations monetary policy; supervise and regulate banking institutions and protect the  credit rights of consumers; maintain the stability of the financial system; and to provide certain financial services to the U.S. government, the public, financial institutions, and foreign official institutions (Board  of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2001). There are twelve Federal Reserve Districts (Federal Reserve, nd). The 12 District banks are the actual operating arm of the Federal Reserve  System. Each performs numerous functions, such as distributing the nations currency and coin, supervising certain financial institutions, operating a nationwide payment system and serving as a banker for commercial banks  and the U.S. Treasury (Saxton, 1997). The importance of the Federal Reserve System cannot be overstated. It "monopolizes the issuance of paper money, serves as banker for both  the government and commercial banks, and acts as lender of last resort. The latter, in turn, calls for bank regulatory responsibilities" (Saxton, 1997). In times of economic crisis, the Federal  Reserve is the lender of last resort and in this position, the Reserve can stabilize the nations entire financial system (Saxton, 1997). The goals of the central bank are "sustainable  growth, price stability and maintaining the integrity of the countrys financial system" (Smith, 2001, p. TEM01276019). The bank has a number of strategies it uses to stabilize the economy. These